The names of many of the city’s wealthiest families, meanwhile, will be recognised somewhere in the building, from Packer, Lowy and Ainsworth to Nelson, Neilson, Meers, Sherman, Belgiorno-Nettis – and thanks to that lunch, Symond – reflecting their sizeable contributions towards its evolution.Ī render of the view of Sydney Modern from Woolloomooloo. They include nine pieces created for the launch – the largest commissioning program in the gallery’s history – from giant bronze beings by Kiwi artist Francis Upritchard which will stand in the welcome plaza, to a floral sculpture by Japan’s Yayoi Kusama for the terrace overlooking Woolloomooloo, to a landmark immersive art garden and gathering space, the brainchild of Indigenous artist Jonathan Jones. Four NSW premiers, four arts ministers, 179 donors, more than 300 gallery staff and 1000-plus architectural, design and construction workers, to name just some of those involved in its decade-long gestation.Ĭreativity will be front and centre, from the building’s Pritzker Prize-winning architects, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from Tokyo firm SANAA, to the more than 900 local and international artists whose work will feature in the opening program. When Sydney Modern opens its doors on December 3, there will be many people with a seat at that table – right now, the biggest table in town. President of trustees David Gonski, who helped raise a record $109 million in private donations. Pull back the curtain … and take your seat.” “There are few people who get to decide what will happen in our world,” Cooper tells Draper by way of fatherly advice, leaning forward in his chair. Bert Cooper, one of the ad agency’s founders, points out that “philanthropy is the gateway to power” and he has just been offered the key. The story brings to mind a scene in the hit TV show Mad Men, in which adman Don Draper is offered a seat on the board of Manhattan’s soon-to-open Museum of Early American Folk Art. ![]() “It was real generosity … how many people invite you to lunch and pay for it, then give you a cheque?” ![]() “He said that would do for him, too.” Gonski shakes his head. Gonski told him that he and his wife would be sponsoring the Indigenous gallery, Yiribana. Gonski asked Symond what acknowledgement he wanted. “I said, ‘I don’t know how much to ask from you.’ ” Symond put his hand in his pocket, pulled out an envelope and handed over a pledge for a seven-figure donation. I love art, I want to be involved,’ ” recalls Gonski from his office in Barangaroo. “Halfway through the lunch, he says, ‘Don’t you want some money from me? You’re building an art gallery. Gonski had taken over as president of trustees at the Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW) in 2016, which was raising $100 million in private funds to go towards a new complex, Sydney Modern, to be built next door to the gallery’s sandstone home in the Domain. As one of Australia’s best-connected businessmen, Gonski of course knew the Aussie Home Loans founder, but not well. Would he like to have lunch? Symond would pay. ![]() It was a year or so before the COVID-19 pandemic when David Gonski took an unexpected call from John Symond. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size
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